GIL CHEBA: Zach’s a known tosser, and of course he wouldn’t arrive anywhere without being fully crewed up with his hangers-on. The one hanging on his arm that night was Sophie Kiminski, who everyone knows as a very posh party girl and not a particularly good actress. The only vaguely thing interesting about Sophie was that she’d been on and off with Lincoln. I knew it, the room knew it, and most especially Addison Stone knew it.
Straight off, I see that Zach is putting on a show, flaunting Sophie, making a spectacle of himself so that Addison will notice. It was all quite sad, actually. Alexandre—who’s not a bad bloke if he’s made the decision not to act completely pretentious—was attempting to keep the peace. And so were Addison’s people, everyone was stepping up hard to keep Zach away from Lincoln, to keep Sophie away from Addison. Clusterfuck is what I believe the term was for that.
ERIKSON MCAVENA: Thing was, Addison didn’t like a circus unless she was the ringmaster. And when pretty, wispy, tipsy, coked-up Sophie tottered in, she was certainly getting a lot of looks. It was more drama than the Kentucky derby backstretch, I’ll tell you that much.
But just to put in one good word about that night—my shot of Alexandre Norton. He’d found a pair of little kids’ water wings, and he’d stuck them on for fun, and I was inspired. I asked him to jump in the shallow end. I reckon he’d have done anything that night to distract Zach from Lincoln. Plus he was a little buzzed. I used the picture in my first solo show. So not all was lost.
Photograph of Alexandre Norton, courtesy of Erickson McAvena.
LUCY LIM: Look, I’d never even met Zach Frat till that night! That’s how fast he’d been in and out of Addison’s life. But I recognized him, and of course I knew who Sophie was. I knew how hard it was for Addy to have to deal with Sophie, who’s such a mess that it almost presents itself as awesome. She’s the kind of actress whose best role is playing herself as this tragic victim of her own fame, and she’s got that whole blank-stare thing down pat. Addy could never be like that. Addy didn’t play at being Addy. She was always hyper-real. It seemed like a cheap trick on Zach’s part.
But I wouldn’t have guessed how that night would roll out. I’m never on the side of the guy who throws the first punch. Not at funerals, and not at parties. I thought Lincoln was the coolest dude on the planet, right up to that second when he punched Zach in the mouth.
MARIE-CLAIRE BROYARD: It was like a crime scene. Who knew all that blood could come gushing out of a nose? There were even drops of blood on my shoes! The way I saw it, Lincoln knew that Addison was getting emotional about Sophie, and so he just charged at Zach. Darling, I’ll always be Team Zachary; I’ve known him since we were seven years old and we took ballroom dancing class together. Zach’s no street fighter. And that night was horrifically embarrassing for him.
Lincoln’s known to be edgy—I mean, his art is deeply awful, don’t you think? Those poisoned, gruesome people? Those apocalyptic, end-of-days visions? Though I did hear that after Addison died, Lincoln—maybe out of guilt—went on some spiritual journey, and now I hear he’s re-identifying himself as a shaman. But quite honestly, I never think you lose that core of self that’s the real you from birth. Lincoln’s core is dark. Which is why Addison loved him. Because she had her own demons. Anyway, I thought Lincoln was nothing but a little shit that night. Violent, stupid, immature—and I told him so.
LINCOLN REED: Why’d I punch Zach? For one, I was showing off. For another, I’d trained as a boxer for years—my mom had a string of boyfriends after Robard, and one of them owned a gym in Sag. I knew I could throw a real punch. It was wrong of Zach to bring Sophie. It destabilized Addison. It pissed me off. It made Sophie feel used. All I wanted was to ring in New Year’s Eve with my girl, for God’s sake. But I ended up creating more stupid drama, so my bad.
New Year’s Eve, that’s supposed to be a perfect night, right? In my pocket was this onyx-and-silver pendant I’d designed especially for her.
The press made Zach out to be this jackass who deserved it. But I was just as much to blame. The way the newspapers talked about that incident, I think it all contributed to Zach’s behavior toward Ads afterward. So that makes me responsible, too, right? Because I was the one who cut the power on Zach’s pride.
And I paid for that.
SOPHIE KIMINSKI, WHO DECLINED to be interviewed for this book, is a Canadian actress who is still best known as a regular cast member on the popular Canadian television drama In the Soup, where from age nine through fifteen, she played the roles of identical twins Sammy and Frankie. In recent years, her career as an actress has been eclipsed by her substance abuse problems, which have often made her the focus of tabloids and paparazzi.
MARIE-CLAIRE BROYARD: Do you want to know the other horrendous part of that night? New Year’s Eve was also the moment that Addison found her new BFF. You know who I mean, right? Gil “DJ Generate” Cheba? Now that boy is a disreputable character.
ARN: You go out quite a lot, and you’ve become pretty friendly with some of the fixtures of New York nightlife … Marie-Claire Broyard, for example. And Gil Cheba. These people are known for having a certain style.
AS: I think certain artists respond to style. We all live in a swamp of influence. I’m influenced by thirty million things a day—the weather, if I ate something delicious for breakfast, a book I just read, the edgy-looking couple that I saw in the subway. But because I paint portraits, of course I’m influenced by personal style, too. Gil and Marie-Claire have a New York style that knocks me out. As do the fabulous Nortons, Alexandre and Stephanie. As do the Lutz brothers.
But I also like to paint strangers. I love that I never know who I’m going to meet next in New York. Sometimes I imagine all these millions of kids who have come here like jeweled doorknobs marked “turn me.” It’s an Alice-in-Wonderland kind of city.
Gil Cheba has a facial architecture that makes you want to look twice. I want to wait till I’m a better painter before I paint him. He has so many options and moods, and he exposes so much of his soul. He’s an open person; he doesn’t have barriers. I know people have their issues with Cheba, but if I listened to anything people ever told me about anybody, I’d be in Peacedale, married and having babies while my soul collapsed. I just know that’s true.
Excerpt from ArtRightNow interview with Addison Stone.